Threat Thursday - July Edition

Threat Thursday is a monthly knowledge-sharing series that brings law enforcement and industry together to examine emerging scam threats, fraud trends, and real-world cases from around the world.

Disrupt, Restrain, Recover

As scams grow more organised and global, traditional enforcement responses alone are not enough. This session explores how the National Trading Standards (NTS) Scams Team is starting to use civil powers and has disrupted criminals saving millions of pounds for consumers.

Through practical examples, the session highlights how a disruption-led approach reduces victim harm, increases risk for offenders, and delivers scalable, measurable outcomes for tackling scams internationally.

Speakers:

• Louise Baxter - Scott

Louise graduated with a law degree in 2001 and began her career with East Sussex Trading Standards in 2002. In 2011, driven to improve support for scam victims, she founded what is now the National Trading Standards Scams Team. Her work has earned significant recognition, including a CTSI Hero Award (2015), CTSI Fellowship (2017), and an MBE for protecting vulnerable consumers from financial abuse. Louise is CTSI’s Lead Officer for consumer advice, education, and vulnerability. She serves as a Non-Executive Director for the Property Ombudsman and TrustMark boards, is a London Fraud Forum board member, and chairs multiple consumer protection and innovation groups, including the National Independent Consumer Organisation panel. She also co-chairs the Government 3Ps Innovation Group. Louise is joint CEO of Consumer Friend, promoting consumer rights education, and is a passionate advocate for protecting vulnerable consumers.

• Ben Meredith

Ben graduated with a law degree in 2002, joining Surrey Trading Standards in 2004 as a member of the investigations team covering both civil and criminal investigations. In 2016 he joined Hampshire Trading Standards initially as Principal Trading Standards Officer for Operations before progressing to Trading Standards Manager. During this time Ben gained valuable experience in conducting and overseeing investigations. Ben has also previously been a Non-Exec Director for Trading Standards South East and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

In 2020 he joined the Housing Ombudsman to establish a new systemic investigations function focussed on looking at issues that continually arise as part of the Ombudsman’s case work to improve outcomes for residents across the sector. In 2022 Ben joined TrustMark, initially as Head of Consumer Protection and later as Director of Consumer Protection, responsible for improving consumer outcomes and informing policy with the interests of consumers at heart.

Ben is currently Project Manager for the Civil Enforcement Unit at the National Trading Standards Scams Team leading on establishing a pilot unit to strengthen the UK response to Fraud though the use of civil enforcement powers, complementing criminal investigations. Ben is also Operations Manager for FAAB Training Ltd, a provider of high quality, interactive training for regulatory professionals.

Ben is driven by fairness and is a keen proponent of consumer protection and advocacy.

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Exclusively for members of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, each session features briefings from law enforcement agencies, regulators, and leading experts who are on the front lines of combating scams. Speakers share operational insights, evolving criminal tactics, and lessons from investigations and disruption efforts.

Hosted by Brian D. Hanley, the series creates a trusted forum where public and private sector partners can exchange intelligence, strengthen collaboration, and advance collective efforts to stop scams.